World-famous author of the Harry Potter series of books, J.K. Rowling (Joanne Rowling) was not born rich or affluent. Born in England in 1965, Rowling has won many awards and has sold more than 400 million copies of her books, which have now been made into movies that have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars each. Rowling is famous for her “rags to riches” story. She was poor and living on welfare benefits when she took a train ride that gave her the inspiration to write her books. As an author, Rowling was self-employed and managed her own writing schedule. Within five years, she would become one of the richest billionaires in the world. Today she is a notable philanthropist, supporting charities such as One Parent Families, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, and Comic Relief. Her first Harry Potter book was written under the name “Joanne Rowling,” but her publisher required that she use initials rather than her full name, since her target audience was young boys. She has no middle name, so she chose the letter K as her middle initial, taken from her paternal grandmother, Kathleen Rowling. In 1990, Rowling started writing her first Harry Potter book. She completed the book in 1995 on an old manual typewriter and was still living on state welfare support. She was unable to get credit or borrow money, but managed to squeak by with help from her family. Her book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript. A year later she was given a £1500 advance by Bloomsbury, a small publishing house in London, for the right to publish her first book. In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone initially printing only 1000 copies, of which 500 went to libraries. Today those copies have values from £16,000 to £25,000 each. In 1998, Scholastic, Inc. published the book in the U.S. under the title, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The rest is history.When J.K. Rowling needed credit, she was unable to get it. She was poor until her writing became famous. Today, she gives money to help causes she finds important. 

Why do rich and famous people give money away?

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There are a number of reasons why rich and famous people may give money away Some may ... View the full answer